PROCESS FOR RECOVERING NOBLE METALS FROM A COLLOIDAL COMPOSITION

The invention relates to a process for recovering noble metals from a colloidal composition, comprising the steps: providing or producing a colloidal composition comprising one or more solvents, one or more stabilizers and nanoparticles of one or more noble metals, contacting the colloidal composition with one or more treating substance selected from the group consisting of organic amine compounds and non-noble metal salts, to produce an intermediate composition, agitating the intermediate composition for a time t1 to produce a treated composition, adjusting the pH of the treated composition to promote the precipitation of a solid precipitate comprising noble metal in elemental form, separating at least a portion of the solid precipitate from the liquid phase, and recovering noble metal in elemental form from the solid precipitate, wherein the organic amine compound is an aromatic N- or O-heterocyclic compound with two or more amine groups, wherein the aromatic ring is substituted with one amine group on each of the two carbon atoms directly adjacent to the heteroatom in the heterocyclic aromatic ring, and wherein the non-noble metal is selected from the list consisting of group 3 to 12 metals of the period 4, aluminium and tin.